Skip to main content
The update command pulls the latest changes from your source repository and optionally applies them to your system.

​
Usage

chezmoi update

​
Description

The update command combines pulling changes from your version control system with applying those changes to your destination directory. Default behavior:
  • If update.command is set in the config, chezmoi runs that command with update.args in the working tree
  • Otherwise, chezmoi runs git pull --autostash --rebase (with --recurse-submodules if enabled)
  • Uses chezmoi’s builtin git if useBuiltinGit is true or if git.command cannot be found in $PATH

​
Flags

​
-a, --apply
boolean
default:"true"
Apply changes after pulling. Can be disabled with --apply=false.
​
--recurse-submodules
boolean
default:"true"
Update submodules recursively. Can be disabled with --recurse-submodules=false. Can be configured via update.recurseSubmodules in the config file.
​
-x, --exclude
types
Exclude entry types (comma-separated: dirs, files, remove, scripts, symlinks, always, encrypted, externals, templates).
​
-i, --include
types
Include only specified entry types (comma-separated: dirs, files, remove, scripts, symlinks, always, encrypted, externals, templates).
​
--init
boolean
default:"false"
Recreate the config file from the template in the source directory.
​
-P, --parent-dirs
boolean
default:"false"
Apply changes to all parent directories.
​
-r, --recursive
boolean
default:"true"
Recurse into subdirectories when applying.

​
Configuration

You can customize the update behavior in your config file: 
[update]
    command = "git"
    args = ["pull", "--rebase"]
    apply = true
    recurseSubmodules = true

​
Examples

​
Update and apply changes

chezmoi update
This is equivalent to: 
cd ~/.local/share/chezmoi
git pull --autostash --rebase
chezmoi apply

​
Update without applying

chezmoi update --apply=false
Pulls changes but doesn’t apply them. Useful when you want to review changes first.

​
Update with dry run

chezmoi update --dry-run --verbose
Shows what changes would be pulled and applied without making any changes.

​
Update and check diff

chezmoi update --apply=false
chezmoi diff
Pull changes, review them, then apply manually if desired.

​
Terminal Output

$ chezmoi update
From github.com:username/dotfiles
   abc1234..def5678  main -> origin/main
Updating abc1234..def5678
Fast-forward
 .bashrc | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
.bashrc: updating
  • init - Initialize chezmoi with a repository
  • apply - Apply changes without pulling
  • diff - View differences before applying

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us